Numerous implements are known for cleaning hard surfaces such as tiled floors, linoleum floors, hardwood floors, counter tops, and the like. In the context of cleaning floors, suitable implements typically comprise a handle and means for applying a liquid cleaning composition to the floor. Some implements are reusable, including mops containing cotton strings, cellulose and/or synthetic strips, sponges, and the like. While these mops are successful in removing many soils from hard surfaces, they typically require the inconvenience of performing one or more rinsing steps during use to avoid saturation of the mop with dirt, soil, and other residues. This requires the use of a separate container to perform the rinsing step(s), and typically these rinsing steps fail to sufficiently remove dirt residues. This can result in redeposition of significant amounts of soil during subsequent passes of the mop. Furthermore, as reusable mops are used over time, they become increasingly soiled and malodorous. This negatively impacts subsequent cleaning performance.
To alleviate some of the negative attributes associated with reusable cleaning implements, mops having disposable cleaning pads have been provided. For example, WO-A-0027271 describes a cleaning device comprising a handle and a head portion pivotally attached thereto, and a removable cleaning pad for attachment to the head portion, the cleaning pad comprising at least one absorbent layer and various other optional features, including a liquid pervious scrubbing layer to aid in the removal of tough stains. The scrubbing layer is a monolayer or multilayer structure, which may contain openings to facilitate scrubbing of the surface to be cleaned, and uptake of particulate matter removed from the surface. The cleaning pad may also comprise an abrasive scrubbing strip, typically located in the centre of the lower surface of the cleaning pad, i.e. that surface which contacts the surface to be cleaned during normal cleaning operation. A separate scrubbing strip may be attached to the leading edge of the head portion of the cleaning implement, which may be brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned by tilting the head portion, and turning this through 90°. A key challenge in tough stain cleaning is the fact that tough stains are random occurrences in the home, and yet require abrasive cleaning to remove them. Examples of common tough stains include dried particulate foods, pasta, tomato sauces, and scuff marks. While it is desirable to have means to remove tough stains when they occur, it is undesirable to employ those means across the entirety of the surface to be cleaned, for fear of damaging that surface. This is certainly a problem with the cleaning implement disclosed in WO-A-0027271, where the scrubbing strip is located on the lower surface of the cleaning pad, and preferably in the centre of the lower surface of the cleaning pad.
WO-A-02090483 describes an impregnated wipe, i.e. one that has been pre-moistened with a liquid cleaning composition, suitable for cleaning hard surfaces. The wipe comprises an absorbent substrate having on one side a textured abrasive surface formed from nodules and/or striations of abrasive material having a hardness ranging from 40 to 100 Shore D units. As the abrasive material extends over the entirety of the surface of the wipe, use of the wipe may damage the surface to be cleaned in areas not suffering from the presence of tough stains.
At present, the only alternative to avoid damage to the surface to be cleaned is to interrupt the cleaning process and attempt to remove a tough stain through the use of an additional cleaning implement, for instance a brush, cloth or towel. When cleaning a floor, this requires bending and hard manual work to remove the tough stain.
Furthermore, a problem associated with the location of a scrubbing strip on the head portion of the cleaning implement itself is that particulate material removed as a result of scrubbing remains on the cleaning implement. This not only reduces effectiveness of the cleaning implement over time, but may also result in redeposition of formerly removed particulate matter, rendering the whole cleaning process inefficient.